In the Middle
by Jazbez
Summary: "You really did love her, didn't you?" "Yeah, I did didn't I?" Looking back on life, Naruto had several regrets, this however was something they chose together, but neither of them truly regretted it. Unacted upon NaruxFemHaku Death b/c old age


**NaruxFemHaku has always held a firm spot in my heart. I love how well the two compliment the other in terms of dreams and personality. Now then there are two stories that made me love the pairing when I first started reading them,**

**'The Kitsune and his Ice Princess' by **Kyuubi16** (It's a lemon but it's a romantic, thoughtful lemon... It's a vanilla lemon)**

******'Kiri's Phantom Blade' by **Aprilliarsv

**Disclaimer: 'I [own] nothing! Nothing!' Props to those that know the reference (1960's American comedy)**

Walking towards the crowd of quiet and sullen faces, an aged Uzumaki Naruto approached the iron gates with a clear look of sadness upon his face with a slight reminiscent smile. He had always loved coming to this village as it had held many memories for him, as he grew as a person the village grew along with him whenever he returned.

It was here that he was first accepted for who he was, and he was forever appreciative of that source of comfort from when he was younger. He was honored and respected by the people who remembered when he first appeared over four decades ago, a brash entergetic kid who couldn't help but inspire them. As with the older generation, the newer generations still knew of him. While they knew of his legendary stature from his youth and beyond, to them he was the kindly older man who was a common visitor to the village throughout the years. And to Naruto, this was the type of home that he had always looked for as a child.

But, like the child he was and then the more mature adult he later would be, Naruto never stayed in the village. Instead he chose to explore the world and live the life of a shinobi, looking for the recognition he desperately sought from the world like he had gained in the village. And for Naruto, choosing to leave the village was probably one of his greatest feelings of what may been in his fifty odd years of life.

For Uzumaki Naruto, his life was built upon poor decisions and regrets, as well as the more joyous and pleasant memories of his life. But for him, what should have been biggest regret was leaving her on that bridge all those years ago, but he knew that neither of them had truly regretted it.  
-

_It was an early morning in which Naruto and his team had already said goodbye to the village, leaving them with a future that they could be proud of and a gratitude that they could never forget. But while his team walked ahead of him, Naruto was a ways back, his pace slower to accommodate the girl that was walking alongside him and to make it so their conversation with each other didnt have to rushed._

_"Are you sure you don't want to come with us? I'm sure that Jiji would let you join the Leaf," a younger hopeful Naruto said, hoping that she would accept the offer this time._

_Giving him a small but resigned smile, the girl looked back at the boy who already knew her answer, "I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but you know I don't want to be a kunoichi anymore. I'm tired of hurting people, I just want to settle down and help people."_

_Giving a small smile to his friend, which to him still made him happy, he had a friend, Naruto stopped pressing for a different answer, "I know, I'm just going to miss you, you're one of my precious people and I hate to see you go."_

_Leaning into Naruto as they were walking, the girl was happy that he understood her but still sad that he was leaving aswell, "I know that Naruto-kun, I'm going to miss you as well, but I feel that I should try something new. I've always wanted to be a doctor, and I know that I owe it to these people for what I was trying to do."_

_Reaching the end of the bridge, the two stopped knowing that this was where they were going to part ways. Taking the first action, Naruto opened up his arms and gave the girl a hug, keeping mind not to touch the wound on her side from the Chidori, a hug which the girl quickly gave back._

_"I'm going to miss you Naruto-kun. Remember, look for your precious people and protect them. See the world and meet new people, show them who you are and they'll show you themselves in return," the girl said, pulling back and giving Nariputo a small kiss on his cheek._

_Blushing from the kiss, Naruto gave a sheepish smile to his friend and started walking backwards down the road where his team were waiting for him, "I know, Haku-chan. Do your best, I know that you'll be a great doctor. I'll see you again one day so don't go missing me," he finished, a wide grin on his face while waving back at the girl, before they both turned around and went their separate ways._  
-

But for Uzumaki Naruto, he understood that regrets have a way of righting themselves. Both he and Haku had lived the lives that the two of them had dreamed about, and through this they knew that they could be proud of what they had done. Naruto had lived the life of a warrior, he saw the world through his own eyes and felt that he had accomplished what many others never could have dreamed of. And while he knew that he may have sacrificed a way of life that he could have had, he felt that he had made the right decision even if it hurt at times.

Having long past entered through the iron gates to the area beyond, Naruto continued to slowly walk to the larger crowd in front of him. He knew that inside were the group of people that he had grown to love beyond his own life itself, and while they weren't related to him by blood, he knew that they were the closest to a family that anyone could ever have.

As for Haku, she had gotten the life that she had always wanted but felt that she never could have. The life of normalcy that she had before she awoke her bloodline, the simple life of a civilian who could choose what to make of their life. She could build her life into what it was supposed to be, free choice, and more importantly, she could rebuild a family that she could call her own.  
-

_Having seen the building not too long ago, the figure of an older Uzumaki Naruto, now in his early twenties, entered into the clinic with a look of happiness and excitement on his face. He had been able to get two months leave from active duty from the Hokage for what was to come on his visit to the village. Now with his excitement growing to see his friends again, Naruto headed to the desk in the small reception room where the figure of a woman in her early to mid twenties._

_The woman, having heard the small chiming of the bells, stated speaking before she fully realized who it was and caught herself with clear excitement on her face, "Good morning, welcome to the Yuki Cli- Naruto-kun, is that you!?"_

_Now, with both of them excited, the woman left from behind the counter to embrace a laughing Naruto, "Hey Haku-chan, I told you I'd try and make it didn't I?"_

_Pulling away from the embrace, Naruto gave Haku a quick and modest look over. She had indeed grown older than when he last saw he about a year ago, gone was the skinny teenager he met almost a decade ago and instead stood a woman who was beautiful in her own special ways. Her figure had grown as she became older, fitting into the woman that she was, while her face, while looking older, still had that look of kindness and caring that she always had. Noticing her hair however, Naruto gave a small bit a laughter that he couldn't stop, "I never thought I'd live to see the day that you cut your hair, Haku-chan."_

_Hearing him, a flustered Haku gently slapped his shoulder with a blush on her face, "Quiet you, I felt like cutting it. Besides I'm suprised to see you so soon, Kenkou-kun and I weren't expecting you until the wedding," Haku finished as the two of them entered into the apartment on the floor above the clinic._

_As he was heading into the kitchen Naruto thought back to when he first met Kouan Kenkou several years ago. It was back in the early days of Haku's clinic and Kenkou was one of her earliest visitors when he had an infection and he needed help treating it. At first Naruto was apprehensive when he had first heard of Haku dating the fisherman, she was, after all, one of his precious people and he knew nothing of the dark haired man. It wasn't until his next visit that he actually met the man, and after a series of talks, he felt that he was a genuine person. Since then Naruto has considered the man family just as he saw Haku as, "I know, but Kakashi gave me a few months off so I could come early and stay for a while after the actual ceremony."_

_Giving a small smile at that, Haku was about to say more until she saw what Naruto was about to do, "Naruto! No eating anything until dinner, besides Kenkou-kun will be coming home soon."_

_Naruto couldn't help but rub his hand while he grumbled, "It was just an apple, you didn't have to hit me with a spoon..."_  
-

_Inside Haku and Kenkou's apartment, an older Naruto in his later twenties was talking with an older Kenkou. They were sharing stories with one another, Kenkou talking about what was new in the village and Naruto was sharing some of his stories from missions and from Konoha. It wasn't until Naruto was sharing some of his stories about the academy that he heard the door of the apartment open and he was then knocked off the chair onto the ground by, what he could describe, was a black blur as it cried, "Oji-san!"_

_When Haku walked into the room a few seconds later, what she saw was her husband trying to stifle his laughter while an embarrassed Naruto was being tightly hugged by a small five year old girl with brown hair. And it took all of her willpower to stifle her own laughing as well._

_Now chuckling himself, Naruto had to pry himself away as he looked at the girl who he saw as his neice in front of him, "Hello to you too, Hiebie-chan. What did I tell you about tackling me out of nowhere?"_

_Hiebie, with a cute smile on her face, couldn't help it, "To do it more often!"  
This, of course, made her parents unable to stifle their laughter any longer when they saw Naruto's look of defeat on his face, while their daughter tried to look innocent._  
-

_This trip to the village was meant to be a suprise visit to see Kenkou, Haku-chan, and Hiebie-chan. He had, after all, received a month leave from duty from Kakashi-sensei. He wasn't growing any younger and he thought that he would have liked to suprise his friends, that was, until Niebie-chan ended up surprising him instead._

_A now older Naruto, in his early forties, couldn't help but shout in shock, his features a mix of suprise and anger, when he heard his niece speak, "YOU'RE WHAT!"_

_Giving a weary sigh, tiredly rubbing her face with her hand, Hiebie told her uncle for the third time, "I said I'm pregnant, oji-san," she had, after all, told him twice before only for him to sputter._

_"B-but who, how, when... Damnit, where's the bastard that did this! I'm going to shove a Rasengan so far up his a.." Naruto couldn't help but sputter angrily at this point, someone made his niece pregnant. He had to do something, he had to hunt him down and shove something up his-_

_"No, oji-san! You're not going to hurt Tasukete! It's bad enough I had to have kaa-chan stop tou-san from killing him, Tasukete-kun's scared enough as it is!" She couldn't help but be worried, it was bad enough her dad had already wanted to kill Tasukete, but now her militarily trained and tested uncle wanted to kill him as well._

_Now determined, Naruto opened up the door to the apartment/clinic, "Screw it, I'm just going to have to find him myself."_

_"Damn it, oji-baka! Get back here!"_  
-

Now heading towards the grieving family, Naruto couldn't help but think of the better times that they had all shared. Seeing him, an older Hiebie ran towards her oji-san while her husband, father, and her son, Ittai saw him approaching. Quickly grabbing his niece, Naruto let her cry into his shoulder while he hugged her and calmed her down.

A now much older Kenkou, his hair turned grey and laugh lines evident on his face, quietly walked towards the pair as they seperated and gave the now unoccupied Naruto a quick hug, "It's good to see you, old friend. I knew that she'd want you to be here."

Nodding now, Naruto gave his friend a small sad smile, "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

The two then walked together to the newly dug grave that laid by older grave next to it, the gravestone reading Momochi Zabuza. Bending down, Naruto laid a small bouquet onto the newer grave.  
-

Several hours later, Naruto and Kenkou were still together standing in the graveyard, sharing stories with one another like they did in the old days.

After sharing a somewhat amusing story about Haku from when she was younger, the two shared a low chuckle with one another. Giving a smile to his friend, Naruto put his hand onto the other man's shoulder, "I never did tell you how much I appreciated that you were the one that married Haku, if anyone were to live their life with her I'm glad it was you, old friend."

Returning the smile, Kenkou shared a look with his friend. After a small lapse in silence, Kenkou broke it, "You really did love her, didn't you? She always used to talk about you," No feeling of accusation was behind the question, just a happy smile and a knowing look.

Giving Kenkou a smile, Naruto couldn't help but agree, "Yeah, I did didn't I? It wouldn't of worked though, would it? I was the one that wanted to explore the world, she wanted to settle down and live peacefully. Neither of us wanted to make the other feel forced to follow the other so there was never a way to live in the middle of the two, was there?"

Standing with each other in silence for a few minutes, Naruto couldn't help but break it by wanting his friend's opinion, "I was thinking about buying a house in the village. What do you think?"  
-

_Walking through the iron gates of the new cemetery, a seventeen year old Naruto saw Haku standing in front of one of the graves. Being respectful, Naruto walked quietly up to the woman and gave her a one armed hug as he looked at the grave in front of him, "You really miss him too, huh?"_

_Not even looking to see who it was since she already knew when he walked through the gates, Haku could only nod her head with a sad smile, "Yeah, he was the closest thing to a tou-san I ever had. Even though he never said it, I knew he was proud of me."_

_Giving a small smile of his own, Naruto couldn't help but pull her closer to comfort her, "I only knew of him briefly from that mission when we were younger, but it wasn't hard to see that he loved having you around. I saw how happy he was that you weren't killed by the end of the mission, you really were his daughter."_

_Standing there together in silence, Naruto broke the quiet, "You ever think that the two of us could have been something more. If I had stayed with you all those years ago?"_

_Giving the teen a smile, Haku couldn't help but think the same, "I don't think it could have really worked. I know we both wanted it too, but we both wanted different things in life. We just didn't want the other to feel as though they're living the life that they didn't want," standing together, with the slight hug tightened between the two, Haku could help but break it, "Do you think we should regret what we chose?"_

_Thinking back to what they said earlier, thinking about their own dreams and wants, Naruto already knew the answer, "Thinking about what could have been between us is fine, but do we regret what we chose? I don't think we should."_

**I just realized that I listen to a lot of depressing songs...**

**Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed the story. It was inspired by "One Headlight" by the Wallflowers, this is based on my interpretation of the song. and that is of regret but knowing that you can still go on.**

**Now then, this is for those that read my stories, I recently got a part time job at small town theatre about ten minutes away from my house by walking. I am also about to enter college in a week as a full-time student. This way mean that it will interfere with writing, but knowing how often I write, I don't think it will.**

**Anyways, have a good day and R&R if you want.**


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